Camille is an interesting narrator in part because she’s what some might derogatorily call a 'passive' character, but whom I read instead as intensely observant and watchful ... The Island of Last Things doesn’t sugarcoat how bad things have gotten in that future world, but Sloley refuses to let her characters succumb to despair; she is intent on highlighting the small moments of beauty, joy, and care that emerge even during disastrous, horrible times.
Sloley’s narrative is stark and evocative, reminiscent of Charlotte McConaghy’s ecological fiction, inviting readers to reflect on the choices we may be forced to make in a world sliding toward collapse ... Both a warning and a call to conscience.
